BEEVILLE — Most of those in the courtroom Monday morning were armed security personnel when Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional officers walked in with Robert Lynn Pruett.

Senior District Judge Ronald Yeager sat on the bench, presiding over the 156th District Court. Yeager was only minutes away from telling Pruett he was scheduling his execution by lethal injection for May 21.

Pruett turned 33 in September and has been on death row since he was convicted in a Corpus Christi courtroom on April 30, 2002, of murdering 37-year-old Daniel Nagle.

Nagle had been discovered, lying in his own blood, near a multipurpose room in the William G. McConnell maximum security unit in Bee County on Dec. 17, 1999. He had been stabbed repeatedly with an inmate-made “shank,” a steel bar sharpened on one end and wrapped with cloth on the other end.

Nagle was the first, and only, correctional officer to be murdered inside one of the three TDCJ prisons in Bee County.

It did not take investigators long to single out Pruett. The 20-year-old inmate was serving a life sentence for a murder in which he had been involved with his father and older brother at a trailer park in Houston. And Nagle had told Pruett he was going to write him up for violating one of the prison’s rules.

“It sounds like they have overwhelming evidence against me,” the prisoner told Yeager Monday. He knew that testimony from fellow McConnell Unit inmates and DNA evidence found on his clothing had sealed his fate.

Pruett was surrounded by five correctional officers, two Bee County deputies and two court bailiffs as he sat with his defense attorney, Richard Rogers III of Corpus Christi. At the other table, state prosecutor Mark Edwards sat as Yeager went over the documents before him on the bench.

In the audience sat TDCJ’s Region IV Director Eileen Kennedy and several other prison officials.

Bailiff Bill Lazenby had blocked off access to the stairway leading to the second floor where the hearing was held. There were no spectators in the courtroom from the general public.

Pruett spoke briefly to Yeager, saying that researchers from the University of Houston had reported that they had uncovered some evidence that could exonerate him. But he did not say what that evidence was.

The defendant said it appeared that prosecutors “basically cheated to get an advantage” in his April 2002 trial in Corpus Christi.

Pruett asked the judge to give him “a month or so, just a little more time.”

Rogers requested that the execution date be scheduled for sometime after August. He mentioned the search for evidence but declined to comment on it because he was not involved in that effort.

Yeager said he had been told that the state was asking for a May 21 execution date. The judge told Pruett and Rogers that he was going to overrule their request for a later execution date and scheduled the event for the requested date.

Yeager told Pruett and Rogers that would give them time to bring any new evidence to the court. He reminded them that all avenues of appeal had been exhausted at both the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and United States Supreme Court.

Yeager then ordered that Pruett be taken to the TDCJ’s Death Chamber on May 21 and that he be given an intravenous injection “sufficient to cause death until Robert Lynn Pruett is dead.”

Pruett appears to be a poster boy for the state’s death penalty. He was just weeks shy of his 16th birthday when, on Aug. 9, 1995, he and his brother allegedly held down a resident of the trailer park where they lived in Houston while their father stabbed the man to death.

All three of them were sentenced to life in prison. Robert Pruett began serving his life sentence in October 1995, only weeks after the murder. He had just turned 16.

At the time, TDCJ officials were saying he was considered the youngest inmate in Texas’ adult prison system.

According to an executive summary of Nagle’s murder, written by the TDCJ’s Institutional Division, Pruett had tried to take a sack lunch to the recreation yard on the day Nagle was killed. The meal was supposed to have been eaten in his cell.

Nagle told Pruett that he was going to write a disciplinary report on the incident. Then the inmate was allowed into the recreation yard.

The report indicated that Pruett argued with Nagle over the report and the inmate ended up grabbing the report the officer had written. Pruett then ran toward a restroom adjacent to the multipurpose room where Nagle’s body was found.

When Nagle followed Pruett into the area, Pruett apparently attacked the officer with the 6- to 8-inch weapon, stabbing him numerous times.

Nagle’s body was discovered at 3:30 p.m., possibly 15 minutes after the attack. He was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m.

Medical examiners found multiple stab wounds to the victim’s head, neck, arms and upper body. It was later determined that the officer died of a heart attack as he was being stabbed.

A number of changes in TDCJ officers’ prison routines were approved following the murder.

If he is executed, Pruett will be the second inmate to die for attacking someone at the McConnell Unit while serving a life sentence for murder.

McConnell Unit inmate Rogelio Cannady was executed on May 19, 2010, for killing his cell mate during an attack on Oct. 10, 1993.

Cannady was serving two life sentences and a 20-year sentence for robbery for his part in the murder of two teenagers, a 16-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl who had run away from a youth home.

Cannady was 37 when he was executed.

Gary Kent is a reporter at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 120, or at reporter@mySouTex.com.

Cat, if the situation was reversed and a Black family that were victims of a White perpetrator was being tormented by a group of White supremacists it would definitely be considered a hate crime. Your story would make CNN tonight. They would not have gotten the response from the authorities that you got that this is “Freedom of Speech”. Because you and your family are White, too bad, they have to kill or injure you before they will act. It is your right not to live in constant fear.

My silver lining is that Prop 34 was defeated. At least some Californians have sense.

I did! I told them all about Gary - and his supremacist mother! I explained how this website "continues" to persecute us! Publishing the first hateful thing was enough... This is the FIFTH! It is quoting Paul's testimony from court! Wouldn't doubt that after all my blogs, and my crusade to keep the Death Penalty, that Gary's mother isn't continually stirring up that bees nest herself!

And to 'hire' a lawyer... We just don't have the money. It was suggested to me, that I track down all the families of the victims from this site, and try to persuade them to start a class-action lawsuit. No money to be gained from this, and because they have "freedom of speech" probably would not win... And the threat, that if we put a stick in this nest, it may stir up the bees! I think it would be too difficult to try to get VICTIMS to do this. I don't want to do this! I want to be left ALONE!!!

The fb person read one of my comments in the news, and went on to read about us in a google search, and found it. He was just reaching out to share it, not threatening with it. He apologized for there being "such hateful people who could say hurtful things about an innocent girl" ...

So many 'fights' ahead of us... And to face continued persecution. Living in constant fear, not just from the trauma of Gary's attack - but from the repercussions that could appear from those articles. And existing, in too much constant PAIN and LONELINESS from losing Saskia. And her screams, and the horror of her murder that I live with, those images that constantly explode inside my head and make my heart feel as if it's being physically ripped from my chest - that make me constantly want to crawl out of my skin...

And I come into this - already carrying the tremendous burdens of my past... All the pain and suffering I endured in life up to that moment... My life has always been an uphill battle, and a constant fight... For everything I ever had, ALL OF IT came at the ultimate price... I was too weary, really, for THIS. I had already crossed the threshold, for how much a person can truly bear...

I'm looking for a 'peace' that I shall NEVER find. Not in this life. Not EVER!

And hey, I even got a nice comment: "joeman at 11:57 AM September 27, 2012Cat-THANK YOU for sharing.WE the PEOPLE need to know how much this hurts you!!!!May I add some insight for you.YOU will NEVER HEAL and you will NEVER BE THE SAME.....Those events changed you forever. Your suicidal thoughts are the painfull process of translating feelings into words. Since there are NO words to define your pain, suicide talk will be the only path known to you to communicate these problems.PLEASE- The last thing your daughter ( from Heaven ) wants to see, is you suffering. She is right there, with you, allways. AND PLEASE remember Kelly Thomas and Paul Quinones- both met brutal deaths at the very HANDS of officers committing FELONIES under color of authority.........Police brutality needs to be addressed, and has NO PLACE in your communications, as that it was never an issue in your case.AGAIN- THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR PAINps- please let us that were beaten, threatened and had our LIVES STOLEN by the COPS have out say.ReplyReport Abuse0 0 "

"Cat Burke at 4:53 PM September 27, 2012OH, joeman, how wrong you are! More than one year before this man came to murder us all, I called the police about him. THE POLICE CHOSE TO DO NOTHING. I reported that, "A minor child held a knife to the throat of another minor child" in my home... He also, stole my entire months worth of grocery money that morning before he ran away. But, what bothered me most, was that he also stole my son's guitar strings. You see, they had been friends for over 10 years... And, the money I guess I could see - although he knew it left us with NO GROCERIES AT THANKSGIVING... But the strings, to do this against his best friend? That one gave me the creeps. And when he parents did NOTHING, about any of this - I felt the police SHOULD. All they did was file my report...OH, and told me to call back if he returned. I did call back, more than one year later - to say he had murdered my daughter!!!Worst part is, if the police had let him know that report was on file, he would have never come to kill us... He had no intention of getting CAUGHT - and that report would lead the police ONLY TO HIM!"

I posted my comments today, on an ANTI- DEATH PENALTY article in the Orange County Register »

"Death penalty: Victims often want an eye for an eye 3 hrs agoANAHEIM HILLS - Don't tell Steve Herr a death sentence takes too long to carry out, costs too much or does not offer some closure.His son, Samuel Herr, 26, an Afghanistan war veteran, was shot, his body … More »"

This is the article they pulled! It was there. I was the first to comment. And this is my comment:

There is a simple truth for family's of victims: NOTHING, can repair the damage done to their lives. For those most heinous and violent offenders? Another simple truth: NOTHING can be done for them, either. These monsters chose to leave behind their HUMANITY ! No matter what sentence is given, the family's of VICTIMS will never feel anything but EMPTY ! To say eye for an eye? Our MURDERER, William Gary Simpson, is facing the Death Penalty for his attack upon our family. Even if it is given to him, he will be given a simple drug... Yet, he brutally murdered our 18 year-old daughter here in our home. And in his mass-murderous rampage, went on to try to kill us, as he had come to do... And all this, in front of my 13 year old child! No, it is not an eye for an eye. It simply keeps the rest of YOU SAFE - from someone who chose to become INHUMAN!

Always, the same one-sided rhetoric about the suffering of MURDERER'S... With no mention, to their VICTIMS! VICTIMS have been tortured (mentally, physically and emotionally) and for victims such as ME? I speak for ALL victims when I say we will remain TORTURED until DEATH!I am Catherine Burke - MOTHER OF A MURDERED CHILD, VICTIM OF A HEINOUS AND VIOLENT CRIME... And as long as there are articles printed like this, I will continue to post my story, to SCREAM OUT LOUD right back at them!

I would have never thought, I would find myself to be the mother of a murdered child, the victim of a heinous, violent crime. We were good, moral parents, who raised our children in a very loving home. Our murderer, coveted the love we had… Our murderer, was a friend of our son's - a friend to our family, for over 10 years... Ten years of birthday parties, Christmas vacations, summer sleepovers and pool parties. Ten years of classes with our son, fieldtrips, lunches and recess... Ten years, of paintball games and 4th of July fireworks, of hanging out and playing Rock Band in our living room... Our murderer was raised by his mother in a privileged home, attended the same good schools as our children, and he received good grades. I could have never thought he would plan for almost 1 year, to come into our home 4 days before Christmas (after hiding in a foreclosed home waiting for all our children to come home), to murder us all! He slashed and stabbed my daughter to death, when she went downstairs for a bottle of water at 4am... Our entire house awoke to her screams! My husband and another child were stabbed… I fought with him to take the murder weapon… My 13 year old daughter stood on the steps, hearing and watching all of this! I will NEVER FORGET LOOKING INTO HIS SMILING FACE, THE HORROR OF REALIZING WHO HE WAS!!!

I will forever, be tortured by the sound of her screams, by her murder! Our life – WHO WE WERE? It was all taken from us on that morning! This man had been a friend of our son, a friend to our family, for over 10 years! And his reason, to kill? Was simply because we were such good, kind and loving people! He coveted what he saw in us, and decided that if he could not have this from his own family, no one should! He came to kill us all, and even though he only murdered Saskia, he did - murder ALL of us! We are all tortured souls now, a torture that truly is too "INHUMANE" to be forced to live with. I hope people can open their eyes, to see what it is to be a VICTIM, and extend to VICTIMS the same understanding, compassion, and HUMANITY offered to MURDERERS!

Please let me introduce you to Saskia Savana Burke! 11-6-93 to 12-20-11 The VICTIM OF A VIOLENT CRIME!" I value my happiness. I value how happy and content I am with my life. I value the memories that have made my life as happy as it is. I value my friends and family who make me happy and share my happiness with me. I value all the things that make me happy, like fun and relationships, but what I value most is the fact that I am happy because there are so many people who are not that lucky. I value my happiness the most because the friends and items that you have may change, and circumstances may change, but the fact thatI AM HAPPY WITH WHAT I HAVE AND WHO I AM - IS THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT THAT I COULD EVER BE GIVEN!”

Saskia was academically brilliant, scoring the perfect 600 on the state testing twice, yet humbled by how easy this was for her, and how difficult school was for others! Saskia went out into the world, with love and a special insight for all things and changed the world in the most positive ways! Saskia was open and caring and giving to everyone, always! She was truly the most angelic creature any of us will ever encounter here in this life. How many people can you say are truly genuine? Saskia was. And she infected each one of us with her passion for life, her kind and loving nature, her ‘real’ and ‘true’ happiness, the simple sound of her oh-so-contagious laughter!

We made it through the prelim Friday, September 14, 2012... As they put up all the bloody pictures, of the crime scene that is my home... As they put up the pictures of my daughters bloody, mutilated body and explained which stab wounds were the fatal ones...

"Murrieta police Detective Jeffrey Ullrich, who attended the autopsy of Saskia Burke, said the woman suffered seven stab wounds. Two of the wounds, one to the right side of her face that severed her jugular vein and another to the center of her chest, were not survivable, Ullrich said"

The force of the knife going into her right cheek severed her artery, her tongue, cut through the muscle and tendons in her jaw, broke out her teeth, and went out through her left cheek... After PULLING THE KNIFE OUT, he then stabbed her in the chest - severing both her lungs and the ventricle to her heart... She lived long enough for us to helplessly watch her die!

The DA Mr. Smith said: "He went into the home to kill those people," Smith said. "Paul Burke and Connor McCormack are not dead because they had the strength to fight back."Saskia Burke did not have a chance, Smith said."(Simpson) slaughters her," Smith said. "He stabbed her in the face, in the heart, in the back."

I live in a horror, too absolute to breathe...

His intent, to slaughter my entire family - and the heinous way in which he slaughtered my daughter, well - during a break in court, even his defense lawyers approached us and apologized for what happened... Apologized for it being their job to defend him...

“The Riverside County district attorney decided in April to seek the death penalty for William Gary Simpson, who also is charged with two counts of attempted murder in connection with the stabbings of Burke's father, Paul, and her boyfriend, Connor McCormack, then 17. Simpson also faces several special allegations including lying in wait and committing his crimes during a burglary.The charges against William Gary Simpson Jr., 19, the alleged killer of Saskia Burke, were upheld by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Kelly Hansen following a day-long preliminary hearing.Simpson is charged with first-degree murder and a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a burglary in the Dec. 20, 2011 fatal attack at the Burke home, in Murrieta.He is also charged with a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, as well as two counts of attempted murder and multiple great bodily injury and weapons allegations.”

I stand with ALL VICTIMS in support of the Death Penalty. I stand beside you, as the Parent of a MURDERED CHILD - AND - the Victim of a VIOLENT CRIME. I am sorry, that it is our eyes that have been opened to the fact that monsters do exist! And from this mothers heart, I am so truly sorry our children have been taken in such heinous ways! Together we will find the strength, take a stand - and say NO to proposition 34!

And then I proceeded to post this same type of comment on 11 other articles... With a little help from Karen Weinholdt Bearman! I am honing my word skills, and using them as weapons!

I might go so far as too say he is quite lucky. He is lucky to "steal" be breathing. Not so unlucky would be for hanky to choke violenty on a razor blade sandwhich. Crap, my inner thoughts coming out on paper again. Working on being nice.

I can live with losing Karma but I really do feel that UKTom is trying to take over the running of this message board. He has done this from day one. The pompous little man should go and adumbrate in a corner where no one can see him.

I am actually hoping that they do allow testing for one reason...he will FINALLY STFU about it and be tossed on the gurney and wacked.

The defense had EVERY chance to test all the evidence at trial and they did not. For YEARS this POS has been evading he rightfully imposed justice and has been acting like a shetland's ass cause he is so full of crap. It is about time to take out mr skinner and dump him into a trash pit somewhere.

A look into my crystal ball tells me Mr Skinner wont STFU. When the tests come back positive he will say something like "That doesn't prove anything. As you know I was knocked out by those pills and when I woke up and found myself in the middle of this horrifying crime scene I must have contamined it accidently, dizzy as I was at that moment". Or perhaps "The real murderer took my DNA when I was unconcious and put it everywhere on the scene to incriminate me"